2011-11-26

This is a great comparative between the Blackberry Playbook and the iPad 2. A couple of things are no longer accurate:

-iPad 2 now has iOS5 with its tab browsing and swiping between apps.

-The Playbook is now soooo much cheaper. If you missed the sale, head on over to your local Kijiji (I bought 5 at the sale price).

Note that video is essentially the same size on the Playbook and iPad. For web surfing, the additional real-estate is used, but the Playbook has Flash, that missing feature is a contestant annoyance when surfing on an iPad.

The iPad is not pocket size. The Playbook is jacket pocket size. The Playbook has hdmi out. You need a $50 adapter to do that on an iPad.

Conclusion: iPad is the better tablet. But if you already have a 42 inch TV, a 24 inch computer screen, a 17 inch laptop, a 10 inch tablet and a 3.5 inch smart phone, the 7 inch Playbook is a nice addition. :)

2011-11-22

I've been to Africa. If Africa is a country, it doesn't include Morocco (shameless bragging about my trip to Morocco, which I recommend).

Country and continent are easy to confuse when speaking. We'll never know if the folks below really thought Africa was a country.

Republican candidate Rick Santorum

Improve TV host (now Price is Right host) Drew Carey.

I love how Drew Carey describes Africa as "being in the middle of the world". Maybe believing the world is flat is a more serious issue. :)

Alleged info on Palin

One republican candidate also thinks that Libya isn't part of Africa. Perhaps worse, however, is Ron Paul who kind of implies that Africa is a country where capitalism doesn't exist (hence, they keep getting hungry). Ignorant people generally know they are ignorant. It is the very knowledgeable ones that you got to watch out for (we all have a specialties, and clearly, history, geography and economics are not Ron Paul's).

2011-11-21

A democracy or not (currently not), it is in Iran's interest to get nuclear weapons. Pakistan, China, India and the USA have nuclear weapons and desperately need cheap oil. Iran has too many neighbours that can't be trusted. Iranians have suffered too much during the never-ending Iran-Iraq war. The population supports nuclearisation of their country. And who can blame them?

If every country in the world used their military to invade the USA, the world coalition would lose. That is how much the USA spends on its military.

2011-11-13

You know about the Darien Gap that stops you from driving to Columbia. But did you know about the 304 km Tim Hortons gap, that stops you from taking a well deserved bathroom/coffee/donut break when driving across the Canadian Rockies?

This needs to be solved. Also, I'm not sure about the one in Relvelstoke, it may be an urban legend.

At first, I tough Dubai got a Tim Hortons before Banff. But there may be a Tim Hortens at 100 Gopher street. However, it might be closed because it is a fire hazard. I guess people in Banff don't have the Internet because I can't get a straight answer. If there is a Tim Hortons in Banff, the Tim Hortons Gap is only 283km (but that can take you 4 hours in the Rockies!).

I'm excited that Tim Hortens will finally have espresso. Coffee is just too hot for Canadian summers. Speaking of which, did you know there is now a Tim Hortons in Dubai. Right next to the Starbucks. This is why I work in a call centre for $14 an hour. Because never in a million years would I have ever invested in a Tim Hortons in what is possibly one of the hottest countries on earth. I mean, granted, Arabs invented coffee, and caffeine is one of the few authorized drugs for Muslims, but Tim Hortons?

Skip to the end if you don't want the driving and parking part (note there is inexplicably no drive-thru at Tim Hortons Dubai). Note the guy eating a bagel. A bagel!

Global warming is happening and those drowning Bangladeshians are going to start interfering with my nightly sleep. I live in a basement apartment, I take the bus to work. I walk to the grocery store. My yearly leisure trip involves a 17 hour bus trip to Montreal. Move over Al Gore, I'm Mr. Anti-global warming.

However, I can only do so much. Time to start banning stuff. So I suggest we ban pets.

Pets eat a lot of animals. As you know, animals take a lot of land to feed. In Canada, we use plenty of fossil fuels to grow and cultivate that food. Many of the animals we feed our pets with give off alot of methane. Pets have a short life cycle, and are often disposed of in shallow graves or the garbage (so their accumulated CO2 is returned to the atmosphere).

Many childless couples pretend their pets are children, and so justify large suburban houses with the required yard. As you know, low density housing is Canada main reason for our large per capita carbon footprint. Pets can also be noisy, discouraging high density environmentally friendly housing.

We could ban private jets, require jets landing at Pearson have a minimum of 500 passengers, raise the gas tax (or use it to fund car insurance). But all in all, since I hate dogs (I had a paper route when I was 10) and am allergic to cats, I've decided the best thing to ban are pets.

2011-11-12

Do you have time to participate in direct democracy? For example, were you in the Occupy Wallstreet general assembly where they decided to spend 8 THOUSAND DOLLARS on the occupywallstreet­.net domain name. Not on the web site, on the DOMAIN ! That insane decision was reached by "consensus". Their whole "democracy" point of view is that you have to be at the freaking meeting (no elected representatives). Worse, to appease the anarchist element of the group, if you don't like the decision, you don't have to be involved. Volunteer taxation anyone?

The System

The people have the power. You could argue they have more power in Quebec, where corporations are not allowed to give to election candidates or parties. A corporation's power to donate is severely restricted at the Canadian federal level (thanks to Jean Chretien's election act reform). The US is clearly an other matter, but Barack Obama, for example, was elected thanks mainly to donations from people, not corporations. Many people who have to ability to donate to political parties, don't. That, in my opinion, is the problem. Not "the system".

The 99% Cause Global Warming

Poor people have very little impact on global warming and the environment. They live in small homes, don't travel and tend to walk or use crowded buses. In Canada-USA, the poor are a small portion of the 99%. The folks we have to worry about are the ones living in suburban houses driving 20 km each day to go to work. Rich people with their private jets and way too big houses are annoying, but eliminate them and you still have all those suburban global warming causing dwellers...

My Hands Are Busy

I'm all for policy debate, but I take issue with folks "demanding" that I not be able to elect a representative, and therefor not be able to have a voice, because I'm at work trying to earn money to buy food, bus fare, and pay the rent.

Environment

Oh, and for those of you that do care about the environment, what is the first line in the "Declaration of the Occupation of New York City"?

They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.

Well, if that is true, that clearly sucks. But what the hell were you doing with a house in New York City!? New Yorkers, even rich New Yorkers, have a far lower global warming impact than the average American (New Yorkers usually live in apartments and take the bus/subway). But New Yorkers that live in houses are an other matter.

Global warming and other pollution isn't the result of democracy and capitalism (there is plenty of pollution in communist, monarchist and dictatorship countries), but the result of people making bad decisions. Science and education can help, but the Occupy movement (1000$ to the NYC herbal remedy table, by "indirect consensus"!), can not. Sorry.

2011-11-07

The Occupy Movement is against democracy and capitalism. Think about that. Ponder that.

I love freedom.

I like to be free of disease. Free from food poisoning when I'm too lazy to cook my own food. I like the freedom of changing jobs without having to worry about my health insurance coverage (unfortunately, I do for pharmaceuticals). I like that my city is free from the smell of garbage that permeates many parts of countries like Venezuela. I like that I am free to move to my nation's capital (although it would be great if the federal government removed geographical restrictions on applying for federal jobs, at least I'm not banned from moving to the capital, like in Russia).

I believe in gaming theory (win win). I support the World Trade Organisation.

I love the good things in life. Some of them are free, but I'm willing to work for travel, good food, beer, Internet access and my iPhone.

I am a social democrat, a progressive, and I love freedom.

I do not support the occupy movement.

---------Update: 2011-11-08------
From the working draft of "Principles of solidarity" of the NYC Occupy Wall Street General Assembly.

-Engaging in direct and transparent participatory democracy;-Exercising personal and collective responsibility;-Recognizing individuals’ inherent privilege and the influence it has on all interactions;-Empowering one another against all forms of oppression;-Redefining how labor is valued;-The sanctity of individual privacy;-The belief that education is human right; and-Endeavoring to practice and support wide application of open source.